Who Has Jurisdiction Over My Children

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Illinois

I apologize if I am not clear in my question... my husband and I have lived in Chicago for 14 months now. 7 of those have been separated. He filed for divorce in November. We established a parenting plan in February. 2 Weeks ago, for unknown reasons, he asked for the divorce to be dismissed....the judge granted it. we are still living sepera te and have no desire to make a marriage work.


my question is actually 2 questions... 1) since the judge dismissed the case, isn't our parenting plan thrown.out the window as well? And 2) my lawyer advised me that since the divorce was dismissed, and I wish to reside in Florida with my family, I am free to do so now. the only issue with that is, ihow long do I have to live in Florida before Florida takes over jurisdicion for the kids?

As long as Dad remains in Illinois jurisdiction will generally remain in Illinois.

Perhaps the bigger question is whether or not Dad is on board with the relocation?

Das is only ok with relocation if I take him back. which I can not do. My lawyer didn't sound 100% sure when advising me about it, which is why I'm asking. He told me that once residency was established in Florida, Florida would take over jurisdiction. but as I said, he didn't.sound sure

I think you need to interview a few more attorneys.

You're of course free to move wherever you want - but you need a court order from IL allowing the children to be relocated.

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A child may not be removed permanently from the state without a court order.

The parent who wants to relocate with the child out of state bears the burden of proving that the move is in the best interests of the child. A court must consider the following factors in determining whether a proposed move to another state is in the best interests of the child:

whether the move will enhance the general quality of life for both the custodial parent and the child
whether the custodial parent's proposed move is a ruse to frustrate or defeat the other parent's visitation rights with the child
the motives of the noncustodial parent in resisting the removal
the visitation rights of the noncustodial parent, and
whether reasonable visitation schedule can be achieved if the move is allowed.

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Do it the right way, Mom - go to court.

Unfortunately, $ is not on my aide. bit that quoted paragraph, that's pertaining to custody. there is no custody agreement between us

Would you prefer simply just to leave and have Dad haul you back and forth to Illinois when he files to keep the kids there?

Seriously.

Under the UCCJEA, if dad remains in Illinois while you permanently relocate to Florida with the children, the general time for getting jurisdiction in the new home state is six months. If your husband refiles his divorce and custody action the moment you leave for Florida, I would expect Illinois to retain jurisdiction.

With the complete dismissal of the divorce and custody order, you appear positioned to claim that the next custody court to rule would be being asked to make an initial custody decision. But you need to speak to your lawyer about whether it would be possible to reopen the dismissed divorce action, reviving the prior order, under the facts of your case. Also, as previously mentioned, your ex- can file a new action before you've been in Florida for long enough to cast Illinois' jurisdiction into question.

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Quoting Dogmatique

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As long as Dad remains in Illinois jurisdiction will generally remain in Illinois.

Perhaps the bigger question is whether or not Dad is on board with the relocation?

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I possibly disagree Dogmatique....

If the temporary custody orders were part of the divorce filing, and the divorce filing was dismissed, then so were the temporary orders and therefore no orders exist. If mom and the children move to FL and reside there 6 months without dad filing anything further in IL. Then FL will have jurisdiction.

If the temporary orders were part of a separate custody action, then I would agree with you.